Inexperienced Despair
by Xedotic
Summary: A new addition to the homicide department, Lily Klein, gets entangled in a case she never knew she was stepping into, while Sherlock learns more and more about her well hidden past.
1. Chapter 1

**Case One:**

"Oi! Watch where ya goin' mate!" Lily exclaimed at the man who walked past while bumping into her. Still overly jet lagged, everything she was carrying fell onto the wet pavement causing all the paper to soon become a pile of wet, muggy, mulch. She sighed as she bent down and picked it up. All the work she put into the resume was now destroyed and unable to be used.

_I can't bloody show it to them now…_

Lily straightened up and continued walking over to the looming glass building with a triangular sign yielding the name, "New Scotland Yard." She was dressed in long fitted jet black work pants and a tight blouse that fit her well. Lily's naturally ginger hair was pulled back into a tight bun allowing her green eyes to stand out from her relatively normal features.

She walked into the building being directed immediately towards the elevator. She stepped in and pressed the button for floor 13, the homicide department. The double doors opened to find a chaotic intervention happening beyond.

"Please could you all calm down. We are here to discuss an urgent matter that could affect everyone's jobs. As you might have heard the Chinese ambassador has been found murdered in his flat five hours ago. We have reason to believe that the murder has been committed by the ambassador's work employee and we are currently trying to receive a search warrant in order to inspect the man's home for any signs of motive. He currently has no concrete alibi to support his claim of being innocent, so we plan to bring him in. That's it, if any more news come in I'll inform you all."

With that, the man who spoke turned around and went back into a glass office. Lily stood star stuck at the event that happened just before her. She wasn't used to such a busy environment in the place she used to work back in Ireland, but it seems like a good change so far. Lily stumbled forward trying to find a "Detective Inspector Lestrade" among the crowded floor, however none of the name plates accompanied that name.

"Are you looking for anything?"

Lily turned around shocked at the voice coming from behind. She stood back and examined the speaker. The speaker was a mocha skinned woman with a large amount of hair in dark tight ringlet curls. She was wearing clothes close to what Lily was wearing herself, however with a grey blazer that matched the color of her pants.

Before taking too long to answer to avoid awkwardness, Lily spoke, "Yes, I am looking for a 'Detective Lestrade', I have an interview scheduled for 10:30."

The lady looked her up and down before gesturing for Lily to follow her.

"Sergeant Sally Donovan," the lady exclaimed while walking, "but must just call me Donovan," she said looking Lily's direction and smirking. "Well here is Lestrade's office. You can just walk in."

That is all Donovan said as she stalked off into the direction she came. Lily stared at the door and knocked.

"Come in!" yelled a man's voice.

Lily stepped into the office and observed her surroundings. It was a nice office, however very traditional for an office. The center piece is what draws the attention of the eye. In the middle of the nice office was a paper cluttered desk that held no sight of the desk surface. The man leaning back into his desk chair was the same man who spoke earlier out in the main department. Lily didn't realize she stepped into the office she had seen him walk into previously. The man was a middle age individual with his silver hair being the dominant feature.

"How may I help you?" He inquired.

"Hello, I am here for an interview with Detective Lestrade for 10:30," Lily said making sure it was indeed the right day and time of the interview.

"Yes, of course, Lily Klein. Welcome, please have a seat," he said sounding like he just had an epiphany.

"Thank you," Lily replied walking over to one of the two chairs to choose from. Sitting down politely she sunk into a brown leather chair that molded to her figure. Trying to still look professional, she sat up straight.

"So you are here for the new job position as the department's translator. I've heard many things about your work previously, solving more than a couple international cases involving multiple different languages," Detective Lestrade awed at the level of Lily's skill. "Do you have the papers necessary for the transfer from An Garda Síochána to New Scotland Yard?"

Lily looked down at the folders and papers she forgot she was holding. The papers were all wet from earlier and had not dried in the most wanted fashion. Leaving her to look up to Lestrade, "I basically got off of the plane about 24 hours ago, and though it isn't that far of a flight, I didn't have any sleep since I landed. So, an accident happened outside of the police station and I managed to drop all my papers due to being disoriented. The pavement was still very wet after the recent rain storm so all my papers and transcripts are, well-" she stopped speaking and pointing down to the ball of paper on her lap.

"Oh," stated Lestrade, "I'm sure we can get in contact of your previous boss and ask them to forward a copy over so we can get it processed right away. There is no need for an official interview because we have no current translator, and due to your promotional e-mail sent from your boss, you seem over qualified for someone so young."

Lily looked up in surprise. She expected the detective to become mad or maybe lash out at such a rash action of ruining something that could cost her her job, however the reaction was just the opposite. Lily would be very pleased to have him as a new boss.

"So exactly how many languages do you know?" Lestrade asked.

"I know a total of eight languages completely, being a fluent speaker, reader and writer, which are English, French, German, Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi, Arabic, and Russian. However I can figure out many similar languages like Dutch, Danish, Portuguese, and Turkish by using roots from other main languages. I've always had a thing for languages, I've always wanted to be able to express myself and be able to talk to people of different culture and tradition. Learning languages was the best way of assimilating to new environments, so that's what I did. Also I would be able to talk back at people without them knowing I said anything." Lily added as she smirked to herself as an old memory resurfaced.

_"What do you mean you can't accept my hard proven facts and evidence to help convict the criminal!?" Lily barked in fury._

_ "We can't just discard the alibi that he gave us that his friends and coworkers verified. This contradicts your so called 'proof" which could lead to a larger lawsuit if we imprison and trial the wrong man," Detective Inspector Colman remarked._

_ "But this is the only proof we will ever find. This is hard evidence while an alibi could have been spread around using bribes!" Lily said still infuriated. "I can't just let this man walk free for the murder he committed, killing over three innocent teenagers! The letter I translated verifies everything, you can't just ignore it. I mean they found his bloody finger print on it! PROOF!"_

_ "Keep calm, if you wont back down you'll regret it. Drop this matter, you will not change my mind," Colman said as he walked off leaving Lily by herself._

_ "Miststück…" Lily muttered to herself more than to anyone._

_ Someone next to her chuckled as she turned around, realizing he had heard her speak and understood it._

_ "Er ist! Ich habe viele Beweis das dieser Mörder sollte ins Gefängnis gehen!" Lily said to the man who chuckled._

_ "Ich verstehe das, ich glaube auch," the man remarked grinning widely at Lily. Returning the grin she walked closer to him so they weren't talking too loud and continued the conversation. The man was a friendly person who recently moved from Germany to the main police station in Dublin. Ireland. He was the same age as Lily, around 28. His name was Klaus, he was tall and skinny, but he had very handsome features. He had short blonde hair that was slightly spiked up and astonishing blue eyes that could rip through everything. The man who would soon become Lily's best friend…_

"Well that's always a useful skill to have," Lestrade remarked smiling at the last comment, ripping Lily out of the flashback and back to the conversation with Lestrade. "The paper work will most likely be sent to me by tomorrow, so you can come back and start working then. Your desk will be right by this office. It is the first desk to the left when you walk out," he said looking out and pointing to the direction the desk is located. "You can decorate it however you like and tomorrow you will be informed on the recent case we are investigating. I would say now that you are in London get a good night sleep and be fresh for tomorrow." The detective turned and smiled at Lily, "Welcome to Scotland Yard."

**Hello and thank you all for reading! I just have to say that this is my first fan-fiction ever written and I'm not a good writer but this idea was killing me unless I actually started. For the story, my German is not the best so keep that in mind. I'll try and post a new chapter weekly to get things going. Reviews and Comments are welcome! Please leave tips or words down in the box below!**

**See you all later!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

_BEEP BEEP BEEP_

Lily looked up from the pillow on her bed and towards her nightstand. Her phone was ringing announcing she received a text, but she was too tired to pick it up. She turned around to lie on her back to face the ceiling as she sighed and stretched out her cramped muscles. She breathed in the scent of her room in the new flat she got settled in a day prior. The only belongings that are hers were the suitcase of clothes and the handbag in the corner of the room. The damp smell of the room hit her nose and she winced. She reminded herself to buy one of those plug in air fresheners to brighten up the morning air. The bed Lily was sleeping in came with the flat, so she didn't have to bring her own down from Ireland. The sheets were clean enough to sleep in for at least a day until they need to go to the wash. Most of her old belongings are in a storage garage in Ireland, so she would only bring the necessities that is needed to settle in a new home.

Lily was not ready for her first day of work. She was extremely tired and not in the mood for a hot new case. But she could not avoid the inevitable. Lily sat up on her bed and turned to dangle her legs over the edge. She was not the tallest of people with her standing at five foot one, but she never seemed to bump her head into anything, so she never complains about getting the wrong genes. She picks up her crappy flip phone she got from work and opened the new text, one from an unknown number.

"_**New murder, meet me at 67 Warwick Avenue as soon as possible -L"**_

Lily sighed down at her phone and stood up. She stretched her arms out and walked into her bathroom, grabbing the heavy handbag from the corner of her room on the way. She looked herself in the mirror and got a shock at what she saw. In front of Lily was a monster. Her hair was frizzy. Having her not take it out of the bun yesterday, left her hair to look like an afro. She had bags under her eyes from having little to no sleep over the night and the light mascara she had on the day before was completely rubbed in and smeared down her cheeks.

Lily sighed again muttering why she had let herself sleep with her make up on and not wash it off when she had come home. She took a deep breath and proceeded with a tedious task. She had the decency to bring all her bathroom belongings with her on the plane, so she had everything to not let herself look like she just got up from a restless night . Lily quickly washed her face with the hand soap and then applied foundation under her eyes to cover up her bags. She put on a new layer of mascara and started brushing her teeth cringing at the cherry flavor rather than her usual fresh mint.

Lily walked out of her bathroom and to her suitcase picking out a suitable attire that is comfortable to walk around in for the day. After getting dressed she exited her room to get greeted by a bare living room with a load of dust flying about. Ignoring the state of the room Lily walked, grabbing her long leather coat, checkered scarf, and her messenger bag all on the floor by the entrance. She made sure she had her keys and left.

* * *

"What do we got," Lily asked Lestrade as she caught up with him as Donovan left to block off the building from the now coagulating amount of reporters waiting for the new story.

"Look and find out," he replied.

The place of residence was a large living complex that housed more than fifteen floors of flats. Lily and Lestrade proceeded into the building and up the stairs. Of course the victim was the residence of the top levels of the complex, leaving them to climb up over twelve flights of stairs. When they reached the flat, the crime scene was already taped off and ready for further investigation. Stepping under the tape, Lestrade showed Lily the main reason she was here.

Inside was a lovely modernized quarter. The living room was flashed with true Scandinavian furniture with contrasting colors of black and white. It seemed to be true that the furniture was more for display than comfort due to the rare use of either the couch or the tho arm adjacent kitchen was also very modern with nice glass cupboards and stainless steel appliances. The owners were definitely not poor. The attraction of the room was a man laying down facing upwards by the glass coffee table with blood ruining the light colored hardwood floors. The man surprised Lily to have an ethnicity of a Chinese man because it contradicted the style of the room. Most Asians had a more traditional taste of furniture and style rather than a very European style.

"Chinese male, late 50's, found dead by the landlady at around 6:45 this morning, staged to look like an attempted suicide, but other evidence is provided," Lestrade stated blankly, confused about the whole situation. Sighing he stepped back and reviewed the scene once more. Allowing for the two remaining forensic scientist to leave the room with their evidence.

The door flew open again with two men standing beyond the tape, one tall and one short. Lily turned her head to inspect the drama by the door. As she looked over the two men now walking into the room she gaped. That is is the same man she had bumped into the other day walking towards Scotland Yard. The same man who ignored her when all her valuable papers fell from her hand. She stared astounded by the fact that the same tall man was here.

The tall man, who was now wearing a long blue coat and scarf with his collar popped up, waltz right in front of the body causing Lily to stumble out of the way, having a feeling of deja vu from yesterday. The shorter man followed behind keeping quiet as he kneeled by the body as well.

"Sherlock, what a pleasant surprise…" mumbled Lestrade obviously holding a sarcastic tone in his voice. "I can only allow you five minutes on the crime scene, better make the most of it."

The shorter man glanced up at the tall one again before looking over the body, gently moving his head to observe the hidden wound. The sandy blonde haired man spoke up. "The victim appears to have suffered multiple head traumas possibly in a struggle. He also appears to have bruises on the neck which shows signs of being strangled. The man appears to have died around six hours. So for now being 7:30 the man died at one in the morning," he said confidently looking down at his watch to confirm his statement.

"Yes, obviously," the dark haired man with the long coat mumbled, inquiring he see more than the others. The dark looking man took out a small compatible magnifying glass from his pocket and started scouring over the body.

The blonde haired man stood up, taking this opportunity to take in his surroundings. While looking around the room his eyes spotted the new employee. Smiling slightly, he walked over to Lily. "Hello, sorry about the barging in, John Watson," he said raising his hand for a handshake.

"Lily Klein, pleasure to meet you " she said returning the handshake. Locking hands she noticed his firm grip and then quickly released.

"Oh, please do shut up," barked the man still examining the body. "It's already hard to do this with the presence of annoying low minded beings."

Lowering his his voice slightly, John Watson continued, smirking slightly, "Please, call me John. So how come I haven't seen you around before?"

"I am new here. So for the first day on the job, Lestrade brought me out to get a feel for the air" Lily replied still confused why she was here in the first place.

After about a total of a minute and thirty seconds of looking at the body, the tall man stood up and breathed in sharply, preparing to speak, drawing everyone's attention towards him. "The man's cause of death was the blow to the head. After a failed attempt on his life via strangle. The perpetrator pushed him back towards the coffee table moving the left armchair to the right slightly as you can see by the recent scuff mark on the floor. This action made the victim fall and smash his head in the corner of the table. The attacker was obviously a stronger build than the victim, however shorter due the the angle the bruise markers are shown, slightly being produced pointed in an upwards heading. It is evident that the coffee table was attempted to be cleaned based on the smell of cleaning supplement still lingering in that area. However the murderer failed to do an adequate job to clean it all up and tried to make this whole event look like a suicide. Without the large pool of blood with his head this would have been believable with the Yard being so incompetent for their job."

Lily looked up at Sherlock in disbelief that he accused the police at being bad at their job. Lestrade looked at Sherlock, almost disappointed at what he heard. It was apparent that Lestrade did know Sherlock in a personal level, knowing this was not the first time Sherlock has disrespected Lestrade's authority.

Sherlock continued, "The man's left hand was placed over his chest to display the medication he 'took'. The prescription is for the victim's heart problem which the killer found in the first cupboard in the bathroom," pointing out to the back of the living room to find a door leading to the bathroom. The medicine cabinet was ajar. "This was specifically found and put in his hand. The mouth has slight signs of a forced entrance and signs of pills being choked down his throat. The assailant thought he could get away with this, however that specific drug is almost impossible to overdose in, and he didn't check whether or not the neck would leave signs of bruising or if he had an open wound. This open wound on his head allowed for a pool of blood to spill out and ruined his whole plan. He did not suffer multiple blows to the head by the attacker like John deduced, however by being pushed, he hit the glass table first then the hardwood floor with his head, making it evident it was a murder and not suicide."

He turned around and continued walking around the body inspecting an element further as he spoke again. "The way his right wrist is turned awkwardly was during the fall, only being able to be achieved by the action of reaching towards his pocket. Most likely is was a message of some sort for the murderer. So the victim knew the murderer that is how he got in the flat, through the front door by being invited in. His wrist again, shows movement toward his pocket that probably the accomplice didn't notice the subtle gesture leaving for..."

Sherlock stopped talking as he bent down again and reached inside the dead man's coat pocket. After a few seconds of Lestrade, Lily, and John staring blankly at him as dumbfound by his deductions so far, Sherlock pulled out an envelope.

"The envelope was pre-opened most likely by the victim. This will lead us to the killer," Sherlock rambled. He took this time to examine the structure of the envelope. It was nice cardstock that was pricey, probably for a special occasion. Evident that the writer wanted to impress someone. He flipped it over to the front to examine who it was addressed to, only to be greeted by a mess of swift lines. Sherlock scuffed at the letter. He opened the envelope further and took out a tri-folded paper concealed inside. The whole paper was covered in the same script as the front was. "Mandarin," Sherlock muttered.

Sherlock grumbled as he walked over to Lily and handed her the letter. "Translate," he bluntly demanded.

Lily looked up at him in disbelief. She hadn't told anyone about her new job. Has Lestrade told him about her? Lily turned again to look at Lestrade only to receive the same confused look back. "How do you know I can read Mandarin?" Lily questioned at her persecutor, not giving out too much information.

John looked up from Lily and to Sherlock growling, "Sherlock don't continue…"

"Isn't it obvious?" Sherlock started. "The way you speak, the words are very specifically pronounce unconsciously meaning you have a good grasp of the English language. However there are some words you pronounce with a slight accent, and no, not your Irish one, but the way you pronounce words that start with an 's' are spoken like 'sh'. Most likely due to your second language being German, so it comes naturally, almost. Now, 'Sherlock how do you know about the Mandarin?'" he mocked. "You are new here, but obviously you are not a detective of some sort, no badge, however you do have a keen eye for things relating to culture and people. The only reason for you to be here is if the department would need help for a case. They are largely out of their ally, however made a good decision bringing you to the crime scene to find evidence that they themselves would not be able to decipher quickly. Hence, this being a Chinese place of residence, and using the assumption that the majority of China speaks Mandarin than any other language, one can easily deduce that you are the new translator for Scotland Yard that knows Mandarin." Sherlock finished with a smirk plastered on his face satisfied with his deduction. "Now, translate."

Lily took the envelope Sherlock has been holding out and scanned the letter, taking her time to absorb everything. Lily started, "This isn't Mandarin."

Sherlock looked up, surprised about the comment. Not Mandarin? That's not possible, he wasn't wrong about something so obvious.

Lily stared at the paper and continued, "The characters do appear to be Mandarin, but the sentences only make half sense. Some character are in Vietnamese, so it will take me some time to translate it completely and accurately."

Sherlock frowned the information given to him which would call for the case to be on hold till Lily finishes the translation. He abruptly turned and strided out of the room without a word. John looked up from over Lily's shoulder to see Sherlock left and started blushing at his ignorance. John quickly said goodbye to Lily and Lestrade, apologizing for Sherlock's bad behavior and scurred out the door.

"Ok, first day on the job and you already have something to do," Lestrade smirked while looking down at Lily from his side.

"It seems so…" Lily mumbled, thought deep in the translation trying to decode the characters. "I'll get this back to you as soon as possible." Lily tip toed out of the room making sure she doesn't disturb the crime scene, ducking underneath the bright crime scene tape, leaving Lestrade to his own thoughts. Lily flew down the steps of the building and out the door. Cold crisp air knocked her out of concentration from the letter and forced her to observe her surroundings. The press were being restrained back by a long fence the police put up to control the growing crowd, there were over three police cars flashing their red and blue lights, and forensics packing up double checking all of their supplies. Lily avoided the crowd and walked off to the next biggest street to see if she could successfully hail a cab. Only taking a minute, one drove up next to her and she murmured the address for Scotland Yard. The taxi sped off back into the heavy traffic of London as Lily leaned back, eyes studying the only piece of evidence that could lead them to the killer.

* * *

**Hello, and thank you for reading! I would like to Lizzybug2000 for leaving a lovely review. Please, feel free to post reviews on what you think of the story so far. Till next time!**


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